Trial by Fire
by Shniggit
Summary: Jedi Padawan Lindsay has lived a sheltered life in the Jedi Temple, living in a perfect and serene bubble. But as the clone wars rage outside, new Jedi Generals are needed. The council has decided to dig from the bottom of the barrel to find their newest general, and has paired her up with a fresh-faced commander and army. (title is temporary) Rated M for violence and gore.
1. Prologue

CC-4285-3859 eagerly made his way up the steps of the Jedi Temple. After 10 long years of training, he finally graduated from the clone commander course on Kamino, and was now an official part of the Grand Army of the Republic. Today, he would meet the Jedi he would be assigned to, and they would share command of a large force of soldiers. He finally made his way to the entrance. Massive statues and columns towered high above the trooper, inspiring a sense of awe. The commander may not have been an architect, but even he could appreciate the work put into the building. Shaking his awe aside, he walked inside. To say that the inside was bigger than he thought would have been an understatement; this place was enormous.  
As he walked through the temple, he caught himself staring at the towering ceilings more than once.  
He was about to head up another flight of stairs, when he heard a voice behind him.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?!" CC 3782-9756 yelled. She had been waiting for this mystery guy to move faster for 10 minutes as he walked slowly up the stairs. Little did she know that this mystery guy was going to be her partner. As she tried to make her way around him, she saw him trying to say something.

The clone turned around. "Forgive me Master Jedi, I was on my way to speak with the council." The commander was confused, why would a Jedi stop him? Couldn't they just mind their own business?

The clone spoke up again "I trust there is no problem?"

Lindsay was confused. She thought today was her day to speak with the council. She quickly wondered why the council had called her and this mystery man to speak at the same time. Lindsay quickly asked politely this time "who are you? Do you know why the council wishes to speak to you?" Lindsay was hoping that this was going to be her partner.

The clone replied almost immediately "I cannot say, council's ears only. I am sorry, I must be on my way." He turned and stared walking again, he hoped he wouldn't end up late.

He stopped when he realized he had no idea where he was going.

Lindsay looked at the time and realized that she had 5 minutes to make it to the meeting with the council. She saw that the man had stopped. She asked "are you okay? Do you need something?" She was hoping that she would not be late for the council meeting.

Now the commander was confused "wait... Are you supposed to be meeting the council too?"

"Yes, they have asked me to come. Do you know where you are going?"

3859 finally swallowed his pride "no... I really have no idea where the council chambers are..."

"We are only one floor down" Lindsay said. "It's the double doors on the right"

The trooper nodded "thanks, lets get goin'." Without another word, the two ran to the large double doors. 3859 put his hands against the door control panel, but hesitated.

Lindsay was hoping it was something good they were going to talk about...the last thing she wants is to be in trouble withheld council. The Jedi saw that the trooper was hesitating and gave him a nod to show that she was right behind him

He pushed the button and the large door slid open. To say he was nervous was an understatement; he was about to walk into a room filled with some of the most powerful people in the galaxy. 


	2. Meetings

I don't own Star Wars, Disney does. However I DO own my OCs.

Her first thought was to hide behind him, but she knew that if the council saw her as weak, it would be very hard to change their opinion. So, Lindsay and CC 4285-3859 walked into the room side by side. She was showing her pride, not her fear

The pair mustered their courage and walked inside, not stopping until they had made it all the way to the center of the room. The commander was the first to speak up "CC 4285-3859 reporting for duty!" Mace Windu made a gesture of acknowledgement but stayed silent.

Seeing how much courage he had, she decided to try the same, "Lindsay the Jedi reporting for duty!" Mace Windu also acknowledged her, yet did not talk. She was very curious as to what they wanted to speak of. But, she had no courage to talk. She was horrified to be in front of the most powerful people in the galaxy.

A few council members exchanged curious looks; the pair was unbelievably fresh. The Jedi Grand Master finally spoke up "In these desperate times, we need Jedi Knights to lead the army of the Republic." Lindsay was confused, she wasn't a knight... "In order to better combat the Separatist threat, we have decided to entrust the newly formed 287th Infantry Brigade, as well as promote you to the rank of Jedi Knight: congratulations."

Realization hit the clone commander like a ton of bricks; this girl was going to be his superior.

Lindsay was overjoyed at the words of the Jedi Grand Master. When she saw CC 4285-3859's face, she realized what he was thinking; she is now his superior. But, with this news, she now understood why he was here. They were about to become partners. But, trying to prove herself wrong she asked, "if the news is about me, why is CC 4285-3859 here?"

Mace gestured to the clone commander "senior commander 4285-3859 is the leader of the 287th, he will be your 'right hand.'" The clone stepped forward and gave a quick salute "glad to be of service master-Jedi!"

Lindsay had mixed feelings about this. How well were they going to work together? She quickly pushed back her thoughts and said "thank you, glad to be of service," and she saluted.

The commander was slightly taken aback by the gesture, but graciously accepted it. He couldn't judge her too harshly; it just wasn't fair to her. She wasn't used to this sort of thing he supposed.

Mace spoke up again "now, there is no time to celebrate, we need you at the front as soon as possible." Mace pulled used the force to dim the room lights, and a hologram depicting a planet appeared.

Mace Windu spoke up again "we are sending you and the 297th to Christophsis, your commander will brief you on your ship, you are both dismissed." 3859 was surprised at the curt dismissal, and wondered why they were whisked off so quickly. He pushed the thoughts aside, he wasn't made to think.

3859 turned to Lindsay "Come on Master-Jedi, lets go." He saluted, and the two turned and left the room. Their walk through the temple was silent, both of them reflecting on current events.

As they made their way down the stairs to the ship, Lindsay knew that she would have issues working with 3859 due to their 'awkward' meeting. But, she pushed those thoughts aside. Lindsay was wondering what their mission would be, so to break the silence, she asked 3859, "what do you think we will do on Christophsis?"

Without missing a beat, the commander replied "A few months ago, Separatist forces annexed the planet, and put it under martial rule. The native Christophsian government then completely abandoned the planet, leaving their citizens behind"  
"Humanitarian efforts led by the esteemed Bail Organa have been working tirelessly to feed and clothe the weary inhabitants, all while suffering pressure from the CIS."  
"Efforts were almost halted a few days ago by a blockade set up by CIS Admiral Trench. Fortunately, General Skywalker was able to break the blockade and eliminate Admiral Trench."  
"There shouldn't be any resistance in space, however large portions of the surface are still in Separatist hands. However we will be behind friendly lines, so there shouldn't be too much fighting on our part."  
"Our mission is to drop off supplies at General Skywalker's command center. A recent incident involving a spy have led to the destruction if almost all of Skywalker's heavy units. Skywalker and the 501st, along with General Kenobi and elements of the 212th have since then desperately tried to hold their ground, but they need help."

Once the commander had finished his briefing, he allowed himself a smile under his helmet 'nailed it.'

Lindsay was surprised at the amount of knowledge he had. She was quite impressed, but didn't show it. After the explanation, she walked in silence.

The commander stretched and put his hands behind his head in a casual manner "I really don't know why they're sending us on what's pretty much a glorified supply run, we should be in the real action."

"You seem very confident about your skills. Although it would be better than just running supplies, actually helping people and getting in on the action." She was very surprised that they agreed on something, and she thought that maybe 3859 wasn't that bad. She started to relax because all they were doing was a supply run.

The pair made their way down to the hangar deck of the Jedi temple. Rows of airspeeders were parked inside the cavernous room. 3859 walked over to a BARC speeder and mounted it. Turning back to Lindsay, he motioned towards the BARC next to his.

Lindsay walked to the BARC cautiously. When she mounted it, she wanted to just ride it, but knowing what they were supposed to do she asked "where is the ship that Mace Windu told us about?" If 3859 was right and it was just a glorified supply run, she wanted to get it done as quick as possible.

3859 revved up his bike. "The cruiser is docked at Coruscant's primary military complex."

The two rode to the complex. When they got there they dismounted the bikes. Lindsay shouted up to 3859 "here we are, now let's get going!"

The pair proceeded inside the massive building. 3859 only stopped for a few seconds to admire the massive monument outside the doors. The architects really spared no expense.

As they walked inside, they saw the ship that Mace told them about. As they proceeded to the ship, the commander that Mace said would brief them on the ship. Lindsay asked 3859 "do you think that this is where we are supposed to be?"

3859 looked at the consular ship she was referring to, then back at her, then smiled "No." He walked past her towards a large set of doors.

3859 nodded to a guard, who saluted in response before keying a few commands into a console. The two gigantic doors opened, revealing not only the outside world, but a gargantuan Acclamator class Assault Ship.

Lindsay couldn't help but stare at the massive ship. Se looked down when she heard the unmistakable sound of marching. Before her, was a white and black sea. An army of Clone troopers stood parade style before her. Then, in almost perfect unison, they saluted... Her!

Lindsay was shocked; she had forgotten that she was now a Jedi General! Lindsay was dumbfounded at everything that had happened.

3859 saluted them in turn, before stepping forward and yelling "at ease!"

The entire formation relaxed a bit, but still kept an air of rigidness. Stepping back, he motioned from Lindsay to the army "anything you want to say to them?"

Lindsay was hesitant; she wasn't sure what to say but knew she should say something. She stuttered "I am Jedi Knight Lindsay." She looked to 3859 for some sort of encouragement.

He nodded in approval.

She didn't know what else to say. So she just said "let's get going!"

There were a few murmurs throughout the crowd, a few heads uneasily shifted back and forth. Apparently they were expecting more. They snapped back into focus when 3859 stepped forward "Alrighy, you heard the Jedi, fall out!" The company did a perfect about-hace, and marched up the boarding ramp onto the ship.

As they approached the ship, Lindsay said to 3859 "I'm sorry, I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what was right and wrong." She looked to the ground, she looked very vulnerable. But, she quickly snapped out of it and said "I will get used to it"...hopefully she thought to herself.

The commander tried his best to comfort her "I... Er... Wouldn't worry too much about it sir." Obviously, talking wasn't his strong suit.

Lindsay was very grateful of the commander to comfort her. She could tell talking wasn't his strong point. At least not trying to comfort someone. But she said "thank you." There was an awkward silence for a little then she said "are you ready for the glorified supply run?"

"Not quite" the commander replied. Walking through the airlock, the pair entered the cavernous main hold of the ship. "See, this is her maiden voyage, and she doesn't have a name"

"Oh, I see. Ummmm do you have any ideas?" Lindsay asked.

Arching his eyebrows he replied "you're asking the guy with no name?"

"Well...would you like a name?" She asked hopefully.

Now he seemed... Almost uncomfortable "well, yeah... But..."

3859 really wasn't sure what his name would be. Most troopers got names based on things they'd done or any quirks they had. The commander wasn't really sure he had anything like that... Did he?

Lindsay was thinking of the very little time they have spent together. She realized that he was a leader, he wasn't afraid to take charge. He was also loyal and would back you up when you need it. She has had many of those times already. She wasn't sure if she should tell him or not.

A similar line of thought was going through 59's head. He placed it aside when he heard heavy footfalls. AT-TEs were walking onto the ship now. "They're loading the tanks on now, we should move on."

Lindsay followed 3859, but she was disappointed that they didn't come up with a name for him and the maiden voyage. As they moved on Lindsay was wondering what they were going to do next.

_

So that's the first chapter. Excuse or point out any spelling or grammar errors. Reviews are greatly appreciated. I've wanted to get this little idea onto the net for a long while now.


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